A view of the nearly empty mall on Penn State's University Park campus in March 2020.
Min Xian / WPSU
COVID-19’s potential negative impact on Penn State applications, revenue reviewed by trustees
Pennsylvania applications are down 4%. But, out-of-state applications are up 5%.
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Anne Danahy
Min Xian / WPSU
A view of the nearly empty mall on Penn State's University Park campus in March 2020.
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(State College) — Penn State has seen a drop in the number of international and in-state students applying.
“Admissions for summer and fall 2020 are, of course, a critical part of our budgeting and our success,” said university President Eric Barron on Friday.
He was speaking about the impact of COVID-19 on admissions during a university trustees meeting.
Barron also said “paid accepts” are down about 6.8%. That’s new, accepted students who have made a deposit. International applications are down about 11%.
Pennsylvania applications are down 4%. But, out-of-state applications are up 5%.
Barron said it is too soon to read too much into the numbers, given the extended deadline students have to make a decision.
He said under the worst-case scenario of Penn State having to be fully remote in the fall, tuition revenue would be down about 30%.
He said the university is operating under the assumption of on-campus classes and student-living in the fall.
“But we will have until June 15th before we have to decide whether or not we have to change those plans,” Barron said.
As of today, there are more than 56,000 confirmed cases statewide.
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